Worth a thousand words
by WonderfulDreamer15
Summary: After a bitter experience at school, Marlene starts wondering what it's truly like living with Cloud and Tifa; with the help of Denzel, both of them will start to unveil aspects about them that may not be be so noticeable at first sight, and to confirm for once and all just why they can be called a beautiful and true family. Cloti involved, first FF fanfic, enjoy!
1. Someone to talk to

"My family is a weird, improvised, unconventional not so close and a bit broken one…" began reading little Marlene Wallace, shocking her classmates, teacher, friends, and even her guardians who just a second ago had been looking at her with loving, proud and joyful stares, the kid raised her gaze and giggled for a while and continued "It seems like everyone in Edge and I myself are able to say it being certain about it; but today, I decided to point out just why it's the best in all of the planet!" she ended the first paragraph happily, making Cloud and Tifa exchange confused glares; her father Barret and adoptive brother Denzel on the other side, smiled at her trusting that her words would be the most beautiful ever said.

"First of all, and what's very important in any family, is that we can trust each other blindly; that's why daddy left his most precious gift, that's what he calls me, of course, who else?…" she explained brightly, making everyone in the classroom chuckle, the loudest was obviously Barret "and Denzel to his close friends to watch and take care of us as he's busy most of the time; and Cloud and Tifa have grown to win our confidence as well, there's nothing they don't know about us and nothing they cannot help us solve. Like they did last Monday after school…" the child remembered the reason for writing such story to read out loud in an important event like that, and so the memories of a week ago came to life inside her head.

* * *

"So everyone remembers what special date is next week, right?" asked Miss Delia to Marlene's class, the school the kids attended to wasn't very big and neither had many students, still the classroom seemed to have much more than 15 students when they replied.

"Family day!" said the children with excitement, the girl was surely excited for the day she'd get to introduce her awesome guardians and all of their friends to her classmates; well, not every kid could say that the people who took care of them had saved the planet and all of the people living in it… twice.

"Exactly, you all have such good memory, so I know that you'll remember working on your projects for that day so all of your loved ones can see it; the idea is to express what makes your family special, it can be a poem, a story, an album with your pictures in it, whatever you feel like doing, just don't forget to bring it, alright?" the bell rang the second she finished talking and the kids started to gather their things and waved goodbye at their teacher.

"Miss Delia, what if all of my family doesn't fit in the classroom? I have a big number of people I want to show my work to!" asked Marlene innocently, a group of girls started to laugh at her back; the teacher smiled to her.

"As if she had a family…" whispered someone, she decided to ignore her as the teacher walked with her to the door.

"Well, try to focus on those that are most important for you and later on you'll show it to the rest, ok? I'm most certain you'll do a great job, Marlene, I'll see you tomorrow" she said goodbye to the little girl; soon her classmates found her again in the playground.

"Look, it's the orphan again, I cannot even think why you bother on coming to Family Day, Marlene, we all know you're adopted…" started Allegra, the head of a group of five girls who didn't seem to like her much.

"What's worse, the mister who adopted you doesn't even want to live with you and that's why he left you with those weirdos…" complemented other; Mabel, taking a step closer to the child and making her walk back.

"And Denzel as well, is your house an orphanage or what?" ended Faye, making the rest of girls laugh; that same group would always disturb the children whenever their family was brought up, Denzel ignored it easily being a bit older than Marlene, but his adoptive sister had some troubles doing it.

"It's not! Tifa and Cloud are the best guardians ever! And daddy constantly visits us, he's just too busy and says that we need a stable home so we can be safe!" she defended them, however fruitlessly.

"You call that a stable home? Your guardians aren't even married!" teased Allegra "I doubt they even like each other, the base of a family is love, and as your believed parents don't love one another neither they can love you or him, and they just got you in their house because they have no other choice…" she pointed at the boy who was walking towards them.

"Leave her alone, you don't even know a thing about us…" Denzel took Marlene's hand.

"We know enough to say that your beloved home is nothing but an act, and it can be taken down at any minute…" insinuated Faye's twin sister, Fiona, high-fiving her sister and being supported by their friend's laughter.

"That's not true, and all of your chatter just proves that our family is way much better than any of yours because we don't need titles or rings or anything to be together, unlike yours do!" and so the siblings walked away from them to the door, where Tifa was already waiting for them and received the children with a smiley face.

"Hey guys, how was your day?" she helped them with their backpacks and took both of their hands to cross the street, Marlene walking with strong enough steps to break the concrete apart if she desired so.

"I've had better!" replied the little girl, surprising the brunette with her angry grimace.

"Why is that, honey?" she asked, Marlene didn't use to have much trouble at school, her grades were remarkable and she got along with her classmates… most of them. Their way to Seventh Heaven was long, and Tifa liked to pick them up sometime so they could talk about things of that nature during the walk, nevertheless the child did not desire to talk about it, so she didn't reply.

"Allegra and her friends are bothering her again" Denzel pointed out.

"That kid gives no break, does she?" she attempted to make Marlene laugh "What is it this time?"

"I don't wanna say, let's just go home… I'm hungry and the angriness is making it worse!" she pouted, her guardian smiled lovingly and nodded.

"Alright, starving and furious monster, let's rush home, then" and for the rest of their walk they didn't touch the topic; rather they discussed the fact that Cloud was returning home late again, it was worrying, but he had been tied up with work lately so they decided to support him and not to become too concerned about it. When they got home, Tifa fixed them some sandwiches and sat with them on the table, food was the best way to get them into talking.

"So… about Allegra and her group? What are they doing now, sweetie?" she lowered her head to look into Marlene's almond eyes directly, the child looked down embarrassed.

"Well, they said awful things about… us, daddy, Cloud and you…" she confessed in low voice.

"Like what?" she put a lock of her hair behind the ear and caressed her soft cheek.

"That nor Denzel or I have real parents, that daddy doesn't want us near, and…and…" then a tear escaped the strong hold of her willpower and ran along her saddened face, the small one threw herself into Tifa's welcoming arms not being able to look at her face while saying the last thing that hurt the must "…that Cloud and you don't love each other, so you cannot love us and that's why we're not a true family, you just have to keep us here not because you want to…" she sobbed quietly.

"Oh, baby, you know that's a complete, terrible and stinky lie" she held the girl tight and talked with a calming voice "If we didn't love you, we would've told Barret to find someone else to take care of you, we would've stepped out of your life, and wouldn't miss you each time you're away …" she sat the girl on her lap and the boy hurried to take the chair next to them, tapping her shoulder "And if we didn't love Denzel, we wouldn't have found him or brought him home or fought to cure his Geostigma" she put an arm around the kid's shoulders, bringing them closer. "Marlene, we may not say it very often, but you two have a big role in both of our lives; and we keep you deep inside our hearts, our affection towards you grows each passing day, and we would never dare to desire having it any other way. We may not be the traditional concept of a family, but what's most important is just being there, you know? And we're always together, always around, always concerned and loving. And that's worth more than any of that little nosy brat's words, you hear me?" Marlene chuckled at the assigned nickname for Allegra and smiled to both of them.

"I guess you're right, if only she understood that"

"There's no need, honey bunny; only Cloud, you two and I know how our life is and that's perfect, you don't need to explain anything to anyone; as long as you're happy with it ,who cares about what the other say?" she kissed both of the children's cheeks and took the dishes to the sink. Marlene knew that Tifa was absolutely right, she didn't need to prove anything to anyone… but herself, she knew how close and caring they were but she got scared that she had doubted them for even just a second. "Let's forget about it and do your homework, ok? I closed the bar early today so I'll be here if you need any help" They did as it was said right away, but that tiny feeling inside the child's chest kept her worried until later.

 _It was two hours past their bedtime and Marlene was still awake, while Denzel slept peacefully on the bed next to hers._

"Pssst!" she called to him, the boy only turned "Hey sleepyhead!"

"I'm already in bed, Tifa!" he answered without opening his bright blue eyes.

"I'm not Tifa, Denzel and I need to talk to you" she pushed aside the covers that Tifa had set so comfortably around her, taking her teddy bear Adam with her as she came out and sat on the edge of Denzel's bed.

"Can't you wait until it is a reasonable hour for us to be awake and explain Tifa why aren't we asleep?" yeah, he couldn't be helpful and dreamy at the same time.

"You and I know the answer to that question" his adoptive sister raised an eyebrow.

"I had to try… what is it now, Marlene?" sometimes he wondered why did she have to wake him up instead of Cloud or Tifa like he used to when there was something making him sleepless.

"You see, It's not that I don't trust Tifa's words, I'm convinced that our family is the best I could've ever asked for, but… it's not about us what gets me worried, it about…" she said to his ear "…them"

"What could be wrong about them?" and that's when he got interested on her game.

"Oh, as if you didn't know… they were childhood friends, like you and me…" he scowled a bit "I'm not saying we'll live together and raise two adopted children, Denzel! I just made a comparison, knucklehead!"

"Ok, sorry, go on" but children will be children.

"They had this strong bond and lost it for no good reason, to later find each other but being… different, you know? Then Aerith dies and Cloud loses it, he turns a bit emo, gets Geostigma , and Tifa feels like she's far behind him, and then he leaves the house… Don't you think they've gone through a lot to never getting to be happy for real?" she hadn't considered all that was to say about their relationship until now; _'…your believed parents don't love one another_ …' echoed he words of that bully on her head, and she shook her head to get rid of them.

"What makes you think they're not happy? I mean, Cloud smiles as often as we see an eclipse, but…" when Marlene made a serious face, he turned the other way round " hey, Tifa's always joyful and pleased and never complains!"

"That's the thing, don't you get it? One with his face showing discomfort all of the time so it's awfully hard to say when he's not feeling like that and the other' smiling like a clown so we'll never tell when something wrong for her, at least not in front of us!" nobody could ever deny how smart, and sly the girl was.

"That's very true but what can we do about it? It's not like we can run around spying on them like secret agents each time they're alone so we can make conclusions about their relationship, can we?" Denzel giggled about his joke, and began to shake when Marlene smiled from ear to ear. "By Gaia, no, no, Marlene, that wouldn't be right! They'd get mad! It's an adult thing!"

"Just call me special agent Wallace, covering the Strife-Lockhart case! We'll put on perspective everything they couldn't in years!" she stood on the bed imitating her guardians' fight pose and then jumping up and down.

"Oh, shoot… Marlene! What on earth do we know about these kind of things? Your father's constantly saying to let them be, this is something they have to deal on their own!" he insisted.

"But we won't intervene, we will just keep an eye on them, see how they're going to prove to everyone, including themselves that they must be just the way they are right now…" and sometimes, she spoke much cleverly for him to understand.

"And how is that?" he groaned, puzzled.

"To-ge-ther!" she laughed the syllables out, hugging Adam tightly to show her thrill. Just then, the sound of the opening door caught their attention as the volume of the television on the living room lowered more than it was already. "And our mission starts now…" she took her adoptive brother's hand and they walked, silently to where the stairs finished, making sure they weren't noticeable.

"This is going to end badly…" he whispered disappointed at the idea he had giving to her occasionally reckless playmate.

"Shhh! I cannot hear them!" she replied irritated.

"It's a bit late, but I can make you something to eat, you must be starved…" Tifa inquired, that day he had worked for almost twelve hours.

"I don't want to be a bother, I'm more tired than hungry, Teef, it's ok" he ran a hand through the spikes of his blonde hair, sighing.

"If you were a bother, Cloud, I wouldn't let you live here, don't you think?" she laughed, walking to the kitchen "Just sit, I'll have something ready in a minute" her friend did as she said.

"Why do you think I ever left in the first place?" he continued with the joke.

"Your distorted vision of the world and yourself has nothing to deal with how I see those, Strife…" Cloud nodded and managed to hide a smirk from her, but not from the tiny spies. "So, Marlene had some trouble at school today".

"That's weird, what happened?" he became tense immediately.

"That little loose tongue Allegra is messing with her again, she gets on my nerves really, but hitting a seven year old to death with my leather gloves doesn't seem like a life example I would want to give the children, what do you say?" the listeners became somewhat excited with the idea.

"A bit cruel, so… What did she say?"

"Uh, some weird stuff about us, it's somehow natural other children don't understand how their life is… simply emphasizing the fact they're adopted… and that we…" she stopped in the middle of the sentence.

"We? Something about the two of us?" he became more interested about it, but Tifa avoid any detail talking about them specifically.

"I believe, but I cannot remember actually; she's pretty upset though…" her eyes were uncomfortably looking from one place of the floor to another.

"Ok, then I'll talk to her in the morning; we cannot control other people's actions, Teef, just the way we react to them" he answered, making her giggle happily as she placed a warm meal for him, as fast as she had said she would.

"When did you become this… deep?" she sat in front of him, resting her head on her hands.

"When I decided not to fall into depressive thoughts and rather into reflexive ones, I guess" he replied taking a bite of the food.

"Good choice, how was work today, other than busy?"

"The world seems to be getting bigger with each delivery, but Gil is Gil… and I won't complain, it could be worse" Tifa scowled at the reply.

"But I don't get why are you working so late, there's something called schedule, you know? Should get you one…"as much as she was anxious about the kids' problems, she was with Cloud's, as a good friend, she had always done it.

"Just doing extra hours, nothing to get stressed about…" he assured, taking a zip of water.

"Why? The bar's doing fine, and your work is exhausting, you may be pushing yourself too hard…" her reddish brown eyes gleamed with compassion.

"I'm ok, I just want to get some more money for…" the words died on his mouth before he could say it.

"For…?" demanded Tifa.

"Any emergency or special need we might have, maybe a trip, things the children may need…" excuses, excuses, the three of them knew what his babble meant, he was hiding something "And hey! Yuffie's birthday is coming, we'll have to go to Wutai and that's no cheap journey, and she'll cut us like sushi with her shuriken if we show up without any present for her" then was when he began making sense.

"I'm sure she'll be grateful enough for some illegally gotten materia; years go by, the bad habits grow with us" they had to admit it, they loved joking around.

"I don't intend to steal any materia, my times as a criminal are far behind, thank you" his friend smiled and took away the empty plate and glass.

"Ok, this is far too suspicious, you actually considered it and are thinking of buying the treasure princess a present, what are you up to?" Cloud blinked several times before responding.

"Trust me, it's for something good" the lightbulb of ideas lit inside the children's mind; the first stage to analyze would be trust.

"It better be or I'll have to manage to check on you with the camera of your new cellphone" Tifa grimaced.

"No need, Teef, thank you for everything, I'm off to bed" he said quickly enough not to give any more explanations.

"Sleep tight, Cloud" she said as she did the dishes one last time for that day.

"Night, Tifa…" and he approached the stairs dangerously, about to catch the two naughty kids who were supposed to be dreaming by that hour. They hushed to the beds and pulled the covers with such strength and speed that they hid not only their bodies but head as well. The steps of the blond stopped at their bedroom, they started sweating, believing he might have caught them red handed. When he walked to the middle of both of their beds, they were almost certain they were doomed, until…

Marlene felt the covers being gotten down and something soft and warm placed between her arms, Adam.

"Night, kiddos" he whispered and left, allowing them to breathe again.

"Agent Denzel, our first thing to be checked is the trust of our targets towards each other, understood?" she whispered softly.

"Heard you loud and clear, Agent Wallace, just one thing to comment…"

"What would that be, agent?"

"Let me get some sleep now, over and out!" he covered his entire body once again and Marlene released a chuckle.

"Being certain you'll be fresh and ready for the mission tomorrow, you're dismissed…" and she closed her eyes, with excitement for their little mischief and all of the wonderful things they'd discover that week.

 _The youngest of the house had taken all precaution while performing their "mission"_ , although it became evident for Tifa that they had been doing something last night when she went to their room to wake them up and found them not only unready but still in deep sleep, very unusual in them.

"Kids, breakfast's ready" she announced softly, but none of them moved; she caught a glimpse of someone who had actually woke with her calling, and she made him enter the room to punish their delay; so they tickled Denzel and Marlene and after a few seconds they were wide awake.

"Holy, moly, why?! Cloud, stop it!" said the girl choking with her own laughter.

"We're up, don't you see it? Quit it, please!" also begged the boy, when the grownups had enough fun watching them twitching with their giggles they stopped.

"Perfect, you have five minutes to get yourselves and the beds ready; we'll wait for you on the table" and they left the two agents with bags under their eyes getting all settled for school.

"You look kinda tired…" observed Cloud as the sleepy ones went down stairs.

"It's emotional tiredness what you're seeing" answered Marlene to his surprise.

"Right, Tifa told me about that kid… but Marlene, there's no reason to listen to any of their opinions; they don't know what we've been through, and you're much more kind, intelligent and pretty that the rest of kids…"

"Thank you…" Denzel's sarcasm shone as bright as the sun rays.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" it was truly hard for him to express his feelings, and the children like to fool around with it sometimes.

"Ok, time up, I want to see your mouths chewing, not mocking your almost father…" ordered Tifa, leaving Cloud about to spit his morning coffee. "C'mon, you also know what I mean! "And she left to the kitchen getting busy with nothing much to avoid their discomfort. With a grin, Denzel and Marlene began eating.

"Well, for your information, I've decided that both of you are right. I won't let her or anyone's ignorant comments bring me down no more" she said proudly.

"That's amazing, dear, just try to avoid the expression "ignorant" while talking to her or anyone, kay?" the brunette caressed the child's hair as she started to braid it.

"Sure..." she agreed embarrassed "Anyways, I'm going to spare any doubts about the greatness of our family and nobody is going to stop me! " Except for Tifa's brush that accidentally pulled too hard on her locks. "Ouch!"

"Sorry, honey bunny…" she bit her lip and continued the work.

"Your resolve is admirable for a seven year old, congrats kiddo…" granted Cloud, stealing a smile from his friends face.

"Thank you, my target…" she let out a little bit too much of her resolve then.

"Target?" they were behaving too skeptically that morning.

"Yeah, we use target as an expression like pal or buddy these days, you wouldn't understand it; it's a thing for young people" Denzel covered her mistake.

"And now we're corpses; fine then fresh new caterpillars, go brush your teeth or you'll be late" Tifa sent them off.

"Your imprudence is also admirable, Agent Wallace" her partner lectured her.

"Hey, we're the perfect couple, I've got the brain and bravery, you have the reflexes and attention, there's no way we'll fail this mission!" she complimented. "Now let's split, you check on them while I get the pearls clean and then we switch places" she winked and Denzel hid behind the wall with only his head facing the dining room.

"Somedays I do feel like I'm getting old, they're too clever for me" Cloud helped Tifa with the dishes.

"Have you thought it may be because of who's raising them? They learn from our mistakes, they'll become dangerously smart for sure…" she pointed out.

"Which mistakes?" he glared at her disconcerted, she released an awkward laugh; was that really all he had heard?

"You know things that … we could have lost the opportunity of doing… or! Things that we could do in future time, they'll see how stupidly we screw up and get a good lesson from it…" when the blond couldn't notice she sighed relieved, that was definitely close.

"Okay, we may have made some fairly foolish things in the past, but with such high hopes and good wishes for the future you're not making me feel any cheerful, Teef" his friend shook her head and stared at the ground.

"Ignore it, then…" she answered uneasily, or rather begged.

"As we ignored that?" Cloud pointed at something through the window.

"Damn it, no! " Tifa shielded her face with her hands in disappointed and growled. "Kids, you missed the school bus" she walked to the stairs, finding Denzel peeking at something.

"Hum, yeah, that was what I was about to say! I thought I had heard the noises of the bus…" he grinned naively at her.

"I'm sorry, we didn't notice, our chit chat distracted us" and the boy knew it was undoubtedly true, they had rather an interesting conversation, well, would've been interesting if Tifa had said what she honestly meant.

"Reports, Agent Denzel!" said little Marlene marching out of the bathroom.

"There's definitely something that Tifa and Cloud are keeping themselves from accepting aaaand we missed the school bus"

"What?! No, that's no good! I had to get there early so I could confront Allegra, now I'll have to delay everything!" she complained stepping hard on the ground.

"Sorry for that, we switch now" and he headed the bathroom as the girl trampled down the stairs.

"We'll never be on time if we go walking, it may get them into trouble" the alarmed brunette let her motherly worries out.

"That might not be necessary…" began Cloud, making her turn to face him as a reflex.

"What do you suggest?" she asked cautious.

"You remember I told you I was doing extra hours to get some more money?"

"I do and if I didn't trust you like you requested it would've kept me up all night" she crossed her arms to her chest.

"I appreciate the confidence vow and will reward you for it, follow me…" he said when Denzel joined them and they walked out to the garage of the bar, where Cloud left them speechless when they saw two motorcycle sidecars.

"Oh my, Cloud, these are amazing!" Marlene's moodiness faded as she checked the new acquisitions out with Denzel, but keeping an eye on them anyways, Tifa instead was still astonished.

"You… bought children sidecars for Fenrir, for real?" the miniature spies perceived that she was making great efforts not to get as delighted as they were.

"Surprise, I pictured I could help you more when it comes to them, you know for times like this or when you're busy with the bar, or just to take them for ride to spend some time…And don't worry I've tested them in any way possible, they're hundred percent safe, and as I see it they're surely content with them, so, what do you think?" it was stunning how he confessed it so carelessly, as it often was so hard to get a clue of what was going through his head.

"This is awesome, I can't believe it, I'm so… touched; thank you, thank you so much" and this time, the brunette brightened up her gestures fearless. The children also smiled to themselves.

"Thank you, Cloud!" they chorused, almost euphoric at Tifa's joy and Cloud's own satisfaction at her reaction.

Also because the first stage had been passed and ended; they had come to be more open and attentive with the other since the nightmare about Geostigma had ended, and if they didn't had thought of sneaking a look that specific night, they wouldn't have noticed. As they admired the scenery of Edge like they had never done it, heading to school, a petite light of hope shone brilliantly for the kids that first test day, and that was only the first of their discoveries.

 **To be continued…**

 _Dreamer._

Hello, everyone! So this is the first fanfic I've ever done about Final Fantasy, and why? You may question, well, I've been in love with the stories of the games for quite a while, my favorite are VII of course and X, X-2; and the life shared by Cloud and Tifa has always had me so excited and loving towards their relationship, you know, with so many things left unsaid but not unfelt; I also happen to love Denzel and Marlene and how the four of them create this kind of family that definitely become something important for Spiky, so I hope to make this a devoted expression about how their situation may be and I also hope you like it and comment about it. Thank you for reading, bye!


	2. Someone to run to

"Second of all, my family always worries about each one of its members. It's the same care and attention in bad as much as good times, and we can feel free to reach out for help if we're in need. Of course, it's a bit hard, nobody likes to feel like a problem or believe than we cannot solve our little troubles on our own; however, to those who you are important to will always be there, no matter how big, small, unimportant, easy or hard to resolve your conflicts may be, they'll always oversee for your wellbeing, and will do anything to put a smile on your face once again, because that's enough reward…" the child kept on reading after telling the events her adoptive brother and her had experienced at the beginning of the week and had been a success. "Even with all the evidence that I, myself, and with extra help; credits to Denzel…" the little boy waved at the audience, making them chuckle once again "I still find it complex to express clearly the kind of things that someone is willing to do for someone he or she cares about; the kind of fear that chills you to the core when you think someone close might be in danger, the necessity of keeping that person safe, and all of the bravery that it takes to follow each one of their steps, fearlessly, having in mind only the thought of staying nearby, cause you feel that's where you belong…"

* * *

" _God, this is impossible! Who was the genius who invented geometry, ah? How many things can you get from a dumb flat triangle?! It's just three lines!"_ a very frustrated Denzel threw his pencil away from the table.

"You said it, sarcastically yeah, but the mister was a genius; let me see if I can keep up with him with my special own abilities…" the boy seemed doubtful at first, but still showed his homework to Marlene, she took several looks to it, analyzing and rubbing her chin as if it were Egyptian hieroglyphs written in the paper and not simple geometry exercises. "But of course! This is very simple, dear Denzel! You just have to find the logic to it!"

"And what is that?" he replied with a hint of hope.

"I don't know that stuff seems like an alien language to me, that's why I told you to find it!" Marlene went back to the redaction of her own work.

"Thank you for nothing, Agent Wallace! This is what I get for playing the spies instead of practicing…" he frowned.

"There's time for everything in this life, young grasshopper!" his sister smirked.

"I need a break, from all of my responsibilities for the rest of my days…" he stood up from the chair and walked to the kitchen to get some apple juice.

"Hey, I'm not paying you for your vacation, sir!" Marlene crossed her arms to her chest and her angry expression resembled her father's a lot, Denzel had to keep his giggle to himself in order to sound as serious as the words he said.

"You're not paying me at all!" he answered.

"Well… I might consider starting to do it if you pour some juice for me too" she negotiated; he rolled his eyes as he took the glasses to the table, but still smiled to her cleverness.

"My, Tifa's going to be upset if I don't do well on tomorrow's test… she might even blame herself because she had to work until late today and she couldn't come to help me with this…" he scratched his messy hair, making it even messier.

"Keep calm… I mean, Tifa has defeated monsters, psychopaths, and has lost many people on the way… She's a warrior, she has many other reasons to get upset rather than a low test score…" she tried to make it better as she held his hand.

"That doesn't give me any peace, Marlene" he replied, petrified.

"I tried…" she shrugged.

"Hey, kids…" the door opened and Cloud entered, making them very surprised.

"Now that's what I call coming home early, looks like you finally got it right, Cloud!" she said cheerfully, with a sweet glimpse in her eyes that assured her guardian she was happy to see him.

"Thank you for noticing; couldn't have done it without you…" he patted her head in response.

"How come are you back this early?" Denzel couldn't leave the curiosity behind; Cloud made a fine line with his lips and sat next to him.

"Well, I've done extra hours for enough time and Tifa said she'd be busy until late night today, any other question?"

"Yeah, how do you solve those alien math problems?" Marlene pointed at Denzel's notebook, almost begging for an answer for both of them; the blond took it with his hands and began reading.

"Let's see… yeah, might get a bit confusing, you have to get the area of the triangles so you can have the area of the whole shape…" he explained in a lot less time and words they had expected him to.

"This is a miracle! Cloud's the descendant of the genius who invented geometry! And to believe Tifa called you chocobo head" Marlene laughed, Cloud showed his usual annoyed, yet funny expression to her.

"She said my hair looked like a chocobo not that I have a bird's brain" that made the children laugh even louder. "C'mon, back to business…" Denzel and he worked and reviewed the needed topics for the test all afternoon, while doing so Marlene got some pretty useful material for her own tasks to complete; Cloud had much patience and tried to make the concepts as easy as he cold for the child, so much that after a few more exercises he was able to do and check them all by himself being sure and satisfied that they were correct.

"That was great, Cloud, thank you! I bet I'll get a ten tomorrow!" said the relieved and sure kid picking up his books from the table and keeping them on his backpack. Marlene smiled at seeing him so relaxed and also sensing the blonde's silent gratification; he liked feeling helpful, still as much as he didn't display other emotions, it was almost undetectable if one wasn't as observing as the little girl, she could bet she'd get a 10 on her work as well.

"You're welcome…"he gazed at the clock hanging on a close wall. "Looks like it's dinner time, kids…" the agents exchanged alarmed glances and looked back at the one who was about to stand up, smirking innocently.

"You are an awesome fighter and teacher for what we have just seen, but we'll have to ask you to let us take care of the food, alright?" Marlene took him by the shoulders gently pushing him back to his sit. "No offense, take it as an act of gratitude" she followed the hurried Denzel to the kitchen, intending to make the simplest versions of Tifa's infinite list of dishes which luckily she had introduced them to in case of emergency... or just in case that Cloud had to be the one to try to feed them.

"She was right, you've just saved us all from a bad meal" the kids grinned to each other, knowing exactly what he meant thanks to their tiny and daily "missions". The little one turned only to wink at him and continue helping Denzel with the dinner.

* * *

" _Hey, why are you not in bed?"_ a couple of hours later, or rather just at bedtime hour, Cloud find two laughing and fully energized children jumping from a bed to the other; apparently, the bedroom floor had become lava and Marlene and Denzel were trying to lead teddy bear Adam safely out of the room, scared screams, military instructions and all of the drama included, one of their favorite games that he recognized immediately.

"With our weight the beds will melt faster, Cloud, don't be silly!" the girl cried protecting the victim with a tight hug.

"Wait, Marlene! He might help! Hand Adam over" Denzel said, bouncing on the edge of Marlene's bed while his playmate waited for him on the other.

"You'll be fine, Cloud's the best rescuer ever!" she carefully left Adam on his arms, making the kid look at him incredibly concerned, almost frightened; their guardian was certainly surprised of the kid's artistic and creative abilities to make a game so full of emotion.

"You ready?" a pair of tense yet strong eyes asked the blonde, making him nod amused with the seriousness of his voice, and how real could've seemed the scene in other situation. "Live, live and witness us, Adam!" the kid send the toy flying to the door where his savior caught it in a blink, with no effort at all. His small companions cheered and celebrated a successful ending to their game. The blonde hid a giggle and walked into the room, lifting both of them with one arm; the warmth of surprised chuckles filled the room as they were gently placed under the comfy covers.

"Alright, tiny warriors, time to bed" he left the infant's partner on her arms, caressed her hair and motioned to leave. "Goodnight"

"Wait, the batteries don't run out until you've read something to us" Denzel pointed out, the man responded with a puzzled face and a questioning glare.

"Something boring to get you sleepy or…?"

"No, we need our bedtime story, remember? You used to tell us about your trips but Tifa decided that we needed something less violent to have sweet dreams" Marlene reminded him as he became aware of how numerous his guardian tasks were for real.

"Right, but… what kind of things does she read?" he came to be sincerely willing and wishful to please them in any way possible, thing that made them incredibly joyful.

"Oh, I have an idea!" the girl sat up and looked for something inside the drawer of their nightstand, going from pictures of their family and friends, to drawings and notes she found a small book, with a shiny blue cover and gave it to Cloud "I got this from my language teacher, we read a part in class and I liked it so much that she gave me a copy; Would you read it to us?" she asked with an eager, enchanted gleam on her eyes, adorable enough to make him accept within seconds, he took the chair placed in front of the desk that usually was only used when they painted something and positioned it between both beds. The kids made themselves comfortable.

"Ok, so this is…. A story with no title" he raised an eyebrow, Marlene chortled lovingly and answered.

"Yeah, that's one of its many special details, go to where the text begins!" she instructed, and so he did.

"Listen to this story. This...may be our last chance." Cloud was surprised that a child's story began with such a phrase, still he had to continue when the little ones showed a peculiar excitement towards it. "It all begins in an ancient metropolis, Zanarkand, great for its dawns and the endless bright lights that take the warm's sun place at night. A young man, a lonely boy, yet a star player of a sport known as Bliztball performed the best moves in one of the most exciting games of his entire life, inside an enormous stadium filled with cheering and turmoil, not only from the inside but the outside as well, the reason? Well, at his eyes only shooting starts that had him distracted for a while, and then crushed into buildings, homes, people and lives. Strange is for certain the way it began, with an ending; anyways pay much attention, for it will end only with a beginning…"

* * *

 _Cloud reheard the story inside his head, being peaceful with how much the kids and himself had enjoyed their day together_ ; it was fairly good for only a bedtime story, it had everything a nice book needed, a bit sad, with hints of hope, much courage, friendship and love overall, it summed up pretty much how real life could be, including the monsters that one had the bad luck to find trough the way. He also caught the sound of the children's comments about it. _'Do you think the summoner will find him? He cannot be only a dream!'_ Marlene had demanded to know. _'Of course she will they must be together! But let's talk about those aeons I want to get me one of those! And a buster sword, don't care what you have to say about it, Cloud!'_ Denzel had replied to her doubts… and his as well, he understood how it was like; living and risking all you had, never being able to be at peace, that every step taken meant a sacrifice and that piercing agony of trying to protect everyone near, at least the bliztball player got to save the summoner, but how could she have gone through it, how could she have gone through that pain without feeling she must've done something more, anything… just how?

"Geez, you scared me! I wasn't expecting you to be up!" Tifa's voice and the sound of a door being closed with more strength that needed was like an alarm clock to the sleeping agents.

"Duty never sleeps!" whispered Agent Wallace with heavily close eyelids that refused to set her pupils free.

"And neither we do…" added her partner, following her to the ending of stairs, the light of the living room forced them to open their eyes and take a good, careful look at what happened downstairs.

"I got caught by my thoughts once again… Marlene has kind of a special taste for tales" the blond remarked, making the observing child smile pleased.

"Sure she does, not all of us girls are interested in princesses or unicorns, you know? What's life or tales without a bit of girl power action?" the brunette agreed thrilled. "And it's great that both Denzel and she have similar likes, don't you think? …Oh, right! I was supposed to help with his geometry test"

"It's ok, he studied with me" he replied without hesitating, Tifa wasn't able to hide how surprised she was.

"I'm sorry that I look like it's unbelievable, I'm thankful and relieved under this shocked face" she assured him.

"I get why you see it so unexpected, but… we're together in this; I thought that maybe, following their steps I'll get to make them safe and happy, not only trying to avoid any danger" he looked at the floor, making it clear for her that he meant it, that it was true, too much for him to give her the eye; it didn't matter though, he learned to open himself more and more each day, and those words were a godlike advance in the process.

"That's right… there are just some things that are out of our control, however, what truly matters is what we do about those… If you believe and work hard enough, you'll get through it" so Cloud got his answer to a previous question; the summoner had hope, knew she hadn't lost it all, and just when she got to understand that was that she got what she most wanted. So great wishes are granted with great sacrifice. "Sorry to cut off the philosophic talk but I'm exhausted, and you must be too, they're amazing kids but they just can't stand still for a second…" the listeners pouted at her comment.

"Lead the way, Teef…" he got up from the couched and walked to the stairs with her, at the same rhythm and speed, the kids also went back to their room. And so equal the grown-ups went that they got stuck in the narrow space between the walls.

"Oh, wait a bit, I'll just…" Tifa turned her body that was now pressed against his, both perfectly lined from chest to their knees; the unexpected noise made the little busybodies poke their heads through the bedroom door to get a peek and become ecstatic at the funny yet uncomfortable sight. They tried to skip out by moving in different directions.

"Shoot…" every move just joined them more and more and made it harder to get apart. Or maybe it was just the fact that they refused to stare into the situation to know what they had to do, and preferred to look as far for the other as they could.

"We should consider wearing lighter clothes while being home…" she tried to blame the fabric. The kids saw a faint red color on Cloud's often unexpressive face thing had them forced to stifle a laugh.

"Hang on" he stopped their fruitless attempts of freeing themselves from the awkward issue, taking her carefully by the shoulders, taking a shiver and questioning eyes in response, he left her steady were she was and went a step up from the first one that got them trapped. "Done" he returned the glare and they both held it for a while.

"Oh, right, sorry…" Tifa woke from whatever spell the mako had put on her, not seeming embarrassed just uneasy.

"Sleep well" he patted her arm smoothly before definitely going to his room, the observers covered themselves with the door only to peek at the one who still had her back pressed at the wall. The girl sighed then smirked amused and followed the way upstairs after a while. The room was shut for once and all for the night with the children behind it.

"That was weird and somehow adorable? …" Denzel started to analyze the scene they had just witnessed.

"That's one perfect definition for this case, agent…" Marlene grinned in the dark, enjoying the satisfying results of her antics, and for being able to watch the connection that still vibrated vigorous and alive between the ones that found themselves so together and so apart at the same time; there was still something waiting to be taken out of themselves, there was still something marvelous hidden inside that longed for the perfect moment to be set free. And she'd make sure both her and her partner-in-crime would be there to see it!

* * *

" _Tifa!" greeted Denzel as he entered running to meet his guardian with husky breath and overjoyed, she received him with open arms as he held on to her waist tightly_. "I got A-!" he showed the paper to her.

"By Gaia, that's awesome, Denzel! I had no doubt that you'd be able to make it, congratulations." She tightened the hug for a while before he got apart. "Don't forget to thank Cloud for the help"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to make a macaroni statue in his honor!" the brunette chuckled at his statement and saw him jump up to his room to leave the books there. "What about you, sweetie? Anything to report?" she told to Marlene, who giggled for herself.

"You can't imagine, but you'll find out soon" she rubbed her hands mischievously as Tifa raised an eyebrow and then shook her head sunnily; she was a kid, if she wanted to talk about something she would in due time. The creak of the front door took them out of their separate and very contraire thoughts.

"I'm starting to be very sorry about pressuring you so much to come home in early hours" said the little girl staring at a tensioned Cloud.

"It's ok, I just needed to get something real quick and I'll be off as soon as I can" he headed the stairs slowly when his friend also sensed something was wrong there.

"You're walking a bit weird, are you sick?" she asked while approaching.

"No, not at all, just had a small incident; I'll take care of it" he spoke rigidly and his posture was strangely hunched over, she took him by the chin and turned his face to hers.

"What the hell happened to you?" she checked his bruised cheek, being fidgety yet questioning, with the faint rejoice she had felt earlier being replaced with only worry.

"It was something stupid… " Tifa frowned, stating that he ought to quit beating around the bush if he didn't want to get even more injured "I got into a fight, what else could it be?" he sighed and rather went to sit on a chair to rest his tired and hurt body, both girls knelt beside him.

"Ok, I do want to know the rest but I swear that if the words Jenova, Sephiroth or even Kadaj get to my ears once again I'm going to kill someone today!" she was irritated, not because of the incident that she didn't finish listening, but because Cloud kept getting targeted for those stupid things in the past that he was just beginning to leave behind.

"Close, but no… I was on my way to make a delivery, a bunch of teens were somewhere on the way and they stopped me, they said they knew me and accused me of still having something to deal with Shinra, I didn't get it at first and the next thing I knew was that they had weapons and I was on the floor; I didn't want to attack, they were only more than children, but I had to… must admit they did a pretty good job while getting their supposed revenge, I feel like a punching bag" his face contracted with pain as his arms flew protectively over the left region of his abdomen, his hand being stained with a red, a bit sticky red liquid.

"They stabbed you? That's it, I'm done with this!" the brunette became enraged, punching her fist against the table and getting up on her feet, making Marlene shudder scared.

"It's useless, Teef, I took enough care of it already; I doubt you'll find them even if you try… And they didn't stab me, the blade barely touched me…" with his free hand he grabbed her by the wrist, trying to calm the infuriated mother of the house.

"I said I would kill someone, not specifically them!" she ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep breaths before kneeling again. "Can I see?" Cloud nodded once, she took his arm away from his ribs gently and lifted the shirt until it revealed a big, bloody and fresh wound, an enlarged mark on a perfect muscle pattern. "Looks pretty ugly, we'll have to treat it immediately. Denzel, can you bring the first aid kit, honey?" she said to the shocked child that had stayed on top of the stairs as soon as he saw the scene and heard the story behind it, he said no more and went to look for what was asked.

"Does it hurt too much?" Marlene was fighting with a pout than wandered around her tiny lips.

"I've had worse, I'll be okay" he assured her with the last bits of strength that his damaged being allowed him to.

"Of course, we'll take care of it, alright? You're going to help me, hun?" the small one nodded confident, Tifa smiled "I think I'll need you to lose the shirt so I can check on it better…" she pointed out and helped her friend to take the clothing off, it was not much bigger than what she had seen at first; Denzel rushed to them with a heavy white box and left it on the floor next to his guardian.

"Thank you, darling" she opened it and started looking for something there "Ok, so we begin disinfecting!" she announced, making Cloud turn even paler than he already was.

"You won't use that yellow thing on me, will you?" he stared to the antiseptic she was holding and then hid behind her back.

"Just a bit, It'll make you feel better afterwards" she grinned innocently but didn't get to convince him "Oh for heaven's sake, Strife! You've fought horrible creatures and people, you've gone to hell and back, you've faced death more than once and you're afraid of an antimicrobial?!"

"I'm not afraid! But that thing burns that specific section of flesh is pretty sensitive, there are reasons why I'm unconscious every time I'm being healed!" he defended himself fruitlessly.

"If it burns it's because it works, and I'm not in position of doing it with anything else! We'll have to stick to our human ways; Kids, one at each side of him, hold him still" she instructed, the tiny agents agreed and positioned themselves where they were told, grabbing each one of his arms delicately yet firmly. "I know it hurts, it'll be over in a second…" she placed the gauze pad on the wound carefully as the patient groaned.

"Breathe in and out, Cloud, easily, don't rush!" Marlene supported him the best she could.

"Thing about anything but the pain, how about if you explain us why you have chocobo hair?" Denzel on the other hand tried to spare his thoughts from the sting of the substance.

"I'm almost finished, crybaby…" Tifa giggled as she cleaned the area, trying not to get lost on the sight of his abs, and enveloped the affected surface with a bandage, not too tight and not too loose "Done, it wasn't that bad right?"

"Only because they kept me distracted with their bombarding of words... Thank you" they helped him to straighten up on the chair but didn't let go of his arms in case he was still in pain. Tifa scanned the view for a long while with an emotive and affectionate stare. "I don't mean to be ruse or anything, but I'd really like to put something on"

"Sure, I'll get a shirt; Marlene, please look for some painkiller ok?" she moved fast before the blush on her cheeks was visible and took her time to come down from the dreamy cloud as she chose anything form his closet.

"Be sure to take plenty of water or you can choke with the pill" reminded the young nurse as she gave him a glass and a tablet. "Better?"

"Better than ever" he replied calmer than before so everyone could relax, Marlene's expression lit up. Obviously, he didn't go back to work that day and called the costumers to apologize, assuring that the deliveries would be complete the next day, some took it well some didn't, they decided not to give explanations just in case it was too much information to be revealed. They got a fright that evening so the only thing they wanted was to get a peaceful night of sleep.

* * *

And they tried, without knowing. A placid environment surrounded the house, the rooms, and every space except for one living, and dreaming, part of the home. Denzel found himself back at sector 7, he listened to his father confessing the awful things Shinra was planning to do, he remembered the panic and the shock of his mother's face and the way she didn't think before warning everyone close what was to happen and talking to a friend so he would be taken somewhere safe, that being the last time he ever saw them. He met once again the face of Ruvie, Gaskin, Rick, the kids of the Triple S that he didn't spend time with for too long; then there was Cloud's cellphone, the voice of Tifa asking questions he wasn't able to answer, a piercing pain on his forehead and the black substance dripping across his face. The stage changed, making him dizzy; he was blinded by the dark light of a one winged angel that dropped a large, bloody sword to the dirty ground and disappeared, a high female scream cut through the air and he led his sore eyes down, his guardians were surrounded by the members of AVALANCHE, Tifa covered in blood, not only hers but another's, held Cloud's body with difficulty, he ran to them asking what was going on and what was going to happen after that. _'I'm sorry we won't be able to be together anymore'_ was the only answer and last thing he heard from the blond, the familiar gleam of his mako blue eyes fainted as the resting breaths he had left.

"NO!" it was so late in the night that his eyes couldn't find a thing more than darkness around the room, and his insides begged for some light, warmth, movement, anything that proved to him that he and everyone around was still alive.

"Denzel?" he heard a familiar voice beside him, the girl rubbed her eyes as she sat on the bed "What is it?"

"They… they were in danger, he died, Marlene; he's dead, we'll never see him again, why do they have to die? I don't want to… I cannot be alone again" his sobs were quite loud to be categorized as sobs only.

"You're not alone, I'm here, Adam's here; you're ok" his adoptive sister got up from where she slept to sit beside him and rub his rigid back, she watched as the boy's tears got the covers wet. "Everything's alright, it was just a nightmare…" the lights of outside the bedroom brightened his surroundings for a while.

"Kids, are you alright?" Tifa appeared in less than a second, breathing heavily and showing no color on her face. "What's going on?" she walked to the children holding to each other.

"I don't want to lose you, don't leave me ever again, please, please…" he whispered sheltering himself in the brunette's arms; she caressed his brown locks, absolutely clueless but not petrified and a bit more serene now knowing they weren't harmed.

"Marlene, Denzel?" Cloud was the next to come to check on them, of course the pain made it hard for him to move as quick as he usually did, and he had to put much effort to get up from his bed, and he headed them slowly, carefully and the little girl rushed to help him get where he wanted to.

"We're right here, Denzel, we haven't gone anywhere…" his guardian said to him, smoothly quieting his whining and being pushed into the hug with each breath the agitated child took.

"But you may go; you're always in danger always surrounded by something that might hurt you! I don't want you to risk your lives anymore, why can't we just have a normal home? Why do you have to be the ones that protect everyone but yourselves?!" the anxiety of his past and now dreams that followed the happenings he pitifully had to live at such a young age were making him exasperated, firing any words his tortured soul could find not to live that torment again, to stick to the people he needed.

"And by that you mean what?" Tifa stablished some distance between them, so she could look at him in the eye and hear him better, to help him better; to give the answers to his questions, to take away the burden.

"Why did you have to choose this life? Why would you want to protect a world that tried to turn its back on you? Why do you have to be the ones who fight for what's right, anyone else could do it!" he replied in between cries, his confident exhaled to his talking.

"I understand… can you make some room for us?" Denzel moved so the three of them could sit on the bed, Cloud often let Marlene sit on his lap, but as he was injured, she just sat in between him and Tifa, resting her head on his arm. "Darling, to begin with, we have to remember that nobody's life is easy; we've got nothing assured, and the future is uncertain, people go through most of their existence without knowing what will happen next, of course we can decide about a few things that will make it a bit easier to walk the way we must, but there are such some situations that are out of our hands…"

"This is not of your hands; this is what you both decided! The two of you, you get that? If anything was to happen, we'd be alone… everyone we know is involved in the same trouble, so who would we have to go? What could possibly change the fact that we'll be abandoned?"

"We will, if we fight, Denzel, if we constantly risk ourselves and all that we have is for your sake itself; I know this is something hard to accept, but we don't care to pay with our lives if that means that you kids will get to live yours, to grow up and become wonderful people, to have the right to exist. The way we live, being who we are and doing the things we must do… it's not because we want to hurt anybody or make them upset, it's because we have something precious to protect, it's because we've seen what's wrong and we want to make it better, it's no easy task, it's unsafe and threatening and scary, but it has to be done…"

"And we cannot sit around and wait for someone to take that place, if we did so… we would've lost much more than we did while fighting…" added the blond.

"It was not that much of a choice, honey… It's rather a calling, being this small you may not comprehend it right away; but when you grow up, you realize that there are many things and much people that are dear to you, the reason why you wake up every day with a smile in your face and with whom you feel safe, hopeful, loved… But then again, they are vulnerable against the evilness of what's outside your surroundings; and you realize that there are other people as well, innocent and good people, a beautiful world that doesn't have to suffer a tragedy either, and your heart grows and you feel the desire to prevent all those wonders from getting lost forever with no remedy, and having to spend the rest of your days wondering why you let it happen. That feeling and need, is what led us to become stronger, to remain and stand still because there is still something to believe in. We have also lost friends and dreams on the way that we weren't able to protect, we got damaged with bruises that will never heal and the sacrifice it means almost breaks you apart, it grieves like nothing you've experienced before… I'm certain you feel it too, and I also know that is what makes you so perturbed and sad. Nevertheless, the reward is as great as the sorrow; it's bad when protecting and following what's good, imagine how worse it would be if we didn't. I, we, wouldn't have wanted it any other way; we were very lucky, Denzel, we got so much help and had the amazing opportunity of being near friends while living this way; it has taken us to the greatest adventures, feel the most breathtaking emotions and getting the greatest goals, but on top of all…"

"It led us to finding you…" it seemed like the grownups had their thoughts synchronized, Cloud knew exactly what she was going to say and agreed. "It has given us the best we could ever get because of what we've been through, and we couldn't ask for anything more. This is no curse or judgment, it's a fate… it's what we were born to do"

"Exactly… you've become one of our motivations to keep up with it and to always come back… You're one of those people who are precious and loved, how can we even think of not coming back to you kids? How would we do it without you? Yet one day you'll have to go through your own fights, not literal ones hopefully, and you won't need us to take care of you anymore, maybe you'll have to take care of us…" the boy laughed at her possibilities "Who knows what will happen next? But if we can promise one thing, is that we'll always try our hardest for you, we'll always stand by you in any way we can. Right, Strife?" her friend nodded once in reply. "There you go, nobody is better at keeping promises than he is, I'm a witness of that" she winked at him now being soothed and moved by her words.

"I… I get it now, I'm sorry I made such a fuss…" he seemed ashamed because of what he had said before though.

"Don't worry, we should've said this long ago… our bad that we waited so long to" she surrounded his shoulders with an arm as she grinned, understanding.

"It's fine to have your doubts, Denzel, and we're here for you; the two of you" the man looked down at Agent Wallace who had adorably fallen sleep at his side.

"Thank you, I apologize for waking you up… I know I can always rely on you" it wasn't that he had forgotten, it was that he was afraid of not being able to anymore; but he knew, that they'd live for them, now he just thought of how would he ever reward them for that?!

"Doesn't matter, I hope you feel better now, or do you want something to drink? I can bring you some water…" Tifa's maternal instinct could have kept them awake all night to make sure he was ok.

"No thank you" he yawned "I'll just go back to sleep now…"

"Perfect, if you need anything else just call, kay?" the visitors got up from the bed. "I'll take Marlene…" she offered, the blond shook his head.

"It's ok, I can do it" he carried the sleepy girl and placed her gently under the covers, again joining her with her fabric friend.

"Good night" they parted, leaving on the boy's chest a devoted feeling of joy and trust.

"Stage two complete, Agent Denzel…" said Marlene on low voice, taking him for surprise for a second.

"Which was it, partner?" he asked getting comfy on the soft surface on his familiar resting place.

"Care, how much they worry about us, the interest for each member of the family; it was successfully achieved!" was the last thing she said before drifting off for dreamland for once and all.

"Tell me about it, sis…"

* * *

" _Morning, kiddos"_ greeted a cheerful and agile Cloud, setting the table for breakfast. The smell of blueberry pancakes had practically dragged the children out of their beds and encouraged them to get ready as fast as possible.

"Good morning, Cloud. Feeling better?" asked the girl, bouncing to the table with a pleased, shiny smile showing off.

"Affirmative, thanks for asking… how about you, Denzel?" he looked to the boy who was hypnotized with Tifa's cooking.

"Hungry, for what I can see… That means were good" the cook laughed at the cute, and much starved, observer. "C'mon, sit down, I'll be done with this in a minute…" he walked to the table without parting his eyes from the breakfast, while Marlene on the other hand watched as the grownups joked and cooked together.

"I know it is morning and there's pretty illuminated out there but my idea lightbulb has just been switched on!" she shook him by the shoulders, changing his attention from the food to his fellow spy, or so he thought he did...

"What will the next stage be, Agent Wallace?" he said with a deep voice and sober face that would've made her chuckle if she hadn't been speaking of a serious matter, for them of course.

"We're getting to the end and juicy part of the mission, Agent! For what we've gotten to see, they trust and care about each other, two important and essential ingredients for the perfect- relationship pancake they're cooking right in front of our curious eyes! But now, now we have to put to the test the most crucial turn of the frying pan!" yep, she was surely hungry and eager to taste the treat "Code L-o-v-e!" she said to his ear, he trembled and gasped.

"That's a death task, Agent! The riskiest of it all! But… what does it exactly mean?" he scratched his head, puzzled for a brief moment, she grimaced.

"As far as we're concerned, they are close enough to be just friends, get it? Now we have to see if there's actually something more there… and my sixth sense tells me that Tifa's ringing the bell, now what about Cloud? The man's a tricky riddle, but there's nothing that moving a few strings won't solve… Yesterday, he was more of an open book that I've seen in years, I'm pretty sure we'll get all the answers we need if we watch them for a bit more; and the most careful we can…"

"I accept the challenge if you do!" he offered his helping hand, which she took without thinking and waved reliably. And just when they thought that the last stage would be the most difficult to confirm…

"… Just where did I leave the syrup?" Tifa turned absent for a moment, forgetting about the flames of the stove that hadn't extinguished fully yet and how close her hand was from meeting a red-hot fate, she was just an inch away from the heat when her friend grabbed her by the waist and took her away from the danger in what it takes to blink. Leaving three quarters of the family stunned and motionless.

"Careful, Teef, you almost get burnt there…" he warned, with no signs of letting go of her any soon, she smirked awkwardly and took the blinks she wasn't able when he had taken her into his arms.

"Thank you… what would be of my back without you constantly watching it?" just when he was sure she was alright they got apart.

"A promise is a promise…" he raised his shoulders as if his gestures were nothing important. _"One of the few things I've ever done right in my life…"_ he thought _"was keeping that promise…"_

 **To be continued…**

 _Dreamer._

Hello readers! so here's the second chapter of this cheesy fanfic I've created as a loving fan-girl, and I'd like to know what you thought about these little games I play with the story and the characters with and my own crazy imagination. I know that Cloud maybe should be more cold, but I'm writing this story as if we could witness the change in him after realizing he's not alone anymore, how he opens to the people that he cherishes and the way somethings about this family are revealed; and I also made FFX into a child's tale, I dunno I thought it would be fun to put it like that. So please comment whatever you though about it, encouraging things or constructive criticism, both are welcomed and aprecciated; And I'll meet you in the next chapter, bye!


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